updated 10:05 pm EST, Sun February 19, 2012

Samsung Galaxy Note mega phone gets our review

Samsung made much ado of the Galaxy Note during the Super Bowl: the massive 5.3-inch screen and pen were tickets to "freedom" from the comparatively tiny iPhone. But are size and handwriting giving smartphone owners real choice, or is it an attempt to shoehorn the phone/tablet crossover into a market that doesn't want it? Our review of the Galaxy Note will find out if it's rethinking smartphones or just rewinding back to 2006-era PDAs.

@facebook_Robert

100% with you. I am very interested in the Note PRECISELY because it is a portable alternative to a tablet, and on top of it it has a pro-grade inductive digitizer designed by Wacom of cintiq fame.

I refrained on commenting before because the moment something similar but improved come out an Apple competitor it gets bashed here instantly as a copycat product; yet when something really different comes out, it is again made fun precisely because it is different from Apple's offering.

Most comments here resort to marketing propaganda, like: "if you see a stylus they blew it" to disregard interesting new concepts. Well I use a large, heavy, techered, and expensive, cintiq everyday and the moment I see an alternative I can bring with me everywhere I'll jump into it - even if it were branded with an apple.

Apple abandoned it's core user base(creative pros) a long time ago, and is further distancing from pros by selling a 2 year old Mac Pro like it were brand new tech.

Wonder what the Apple sheep will say if the iPhone 5 comes with a larger screen; most likely something on the lines of: Apple invented large screens over 20 years ago with the Newton. And the same hordes that down vote you will applaud at the new marketing rants...

Count me in...

I bought the Galaxy Note this weekend, precisely BECAUSE it's a 5" device. I grew tired, very quickly, of lugging a tablet around in the car for those occasions when I needed something bigger than the standard 3.5" cell phone display. The 5" form factor hits right in the sweet spot for me - just big enough to be extraordinarily useful, yet still small enough to be portable.

I just Ebay'd a tablet, keyboard dock, and returned an AT&T mobile hotspot and now have ONE device. And as for reading, the Kindle app feels almost like a good paperback novel at this size. I for one love it - and judging by how fast they were flying out the door at the local Best Buy on Saturday, I'd say I'm definitely not the only one.

To each his own, as always - but some of us actually do think differently about these things. Personally, I think Samsung nailed it with this one.